niversity 


of 


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PROSPECTUS 


FOR  THE 


Phebe  Hearst  Architectural 


OF  THE 


University  of  California 


Berkeley,  CaL 


LOUIS  ROESCH  CO.,  PRINTERS, 
SAN  FRANCISCO,   CAL. 


HE  UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA  has 

undertaken  an  enterprise  which  it  is  hoped  to 
make  one  of  the  most  notable  in  the  history  of 
architecture;  and  in  this  hope  it  asks,  through 
the  wise  and  loving  kindness  of  Mrs.  Phebe 
A.  Hearst,  the  co-operation  of  the  architects  and 
artists  of  every  land  and  clime,  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  a  plan  for  an  ideal  home  of  education. 

The  purpose  is  to  secure  a  plan  to  which  all  the  build- 
ings that  may  be  needed  by  the  University  in  its  future  growth, 
shall  conform.  All  the  buildings  that  have  been  constructed  up 
to  the  present  time  are  to  be  ignored,  and  the  grounds  are  to 
be  treated  as  a  blank  space,  to  be  filled  with  a  single  beautiful 
and  harmonious  picture  as  a  painter  fills  in  his  canvas. 

The  University  of  California  was  founded  under  an  Act 
of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  passed  in  J862.  It  received 
a  large  land-grant  and  subsidies,  and  still  receives,  in  addition,  a 
yearly  income  from  the  United  States.  The  Charter  of  the 
University  was  granted  to  it  by  the  State  of  California,  in  J868, 
and  a  part  of  its  income  is  derived  from  a  tax  of  two  cents  on 
each  $JOO  of  the  taxable  wealth  of  the  State,  which  income  is, 
of  course,  constantly  increasing  in  amount. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  University  has  both  a 
National  and  State  character.  Its  present  resources  are  valued 
at  about  nine  million  dollars  and,  in  addition  to  the  revenue 


derived  from  part  of  such  resources,  it  has  a  yearly  income  of 
about  $40,000  from  the  United  States,  and  of  about  $250,000 
from  the  State  tax.  The  University  has  trebled  its  number  of 
students  in  six  years.  It  had  777  in  J89J ;  it  has  2300  now, 
and  it  will  probably  have  5000  after  ten  years,  which  is  the 
number  of  students  for  whom  the  architectural  plan  should  be 
calculated. 

The  site  of  the  University  of  California,  at  Berkeley, 
California,  comprises  two  hundred  and  forty-five  (245)  acres  of 
land,  rising  at  first  in  a  gentle  and  then  in  a  bolder  slope  from 
a  height  of  about  two  hundred  feet  above  the  sea  level  to  one 
of  over  nine  hundred  feet.  It  thus  covers  a  range  of  more  than 
seven  hundred  feet  in  altitude,  while  back  of  it  the  chain  of 
hills  continues  to  rise  a  thousand  feet  higher. 

It  has  a  superb  outlook  over  the  Bay  and  City  of  San 
Francisco,  over  the  neighboring  plains  and  mountains,  and  the 
ocean.  It  is  the  desire  of  those  who  have  charge  of  this  enter- 
prise, to  treat  the  grounds  and  buildings  together,  landscape 
gardening  and  architecture  forming  one  composition,  which  will 
never  need  to  be  structurally  changed  in  all  the  future  history 
of  the  University.  It  is  thought  that  the  advantages  of  the  site, 
whose  bold  slope  will  enable  the  entire  mass  of  buildings  to  be 
taken  in  at  a  single  coup  d'oeil,  will  permit  the  production  of 
an  effect  unique  in  the  world,  and  that  the  architect  who  can 
seize  the  opportunity  it  offers,  will  immortalize  himself. 

It  is  seldom  in  any  age  that  an  artist  has  had  a  chance 
to  express  his  thought  so  freely,  on  so  large  a  scale,  and  with 
such  entire  exemption  from  the  influence  of  discordant  surround- 


ings.  Here  there  will  be  at  least  twenty-eight  buildings,  all 
mutually  related  and,  at  the  same  time,  entirely  cut  off  from 
anything  that  could  mar  the  effect  of  the  picture.  In  fact,  it 
is  a  city  that  is  to  be  created,  —  a  City  of  Learning,  —  in  which 
there  is  to  be  no  sordid  or  inharmonious  feature.  There  are 
to  be  no  definite  limitations  of  cost,  materials,  or  style.  All  is 
to  be  left  to  the  unfettered  discretion  of  the  designer.  He  is 
asked  to  record  his  conception  of  an  ideal  home  for  a  Univer- 
sity, assuming  time  and  resources  to  be  unlimited.  He  is  to 
plan  for  centuries  to  come.  There  will  doubtless  be  develop- 
ments of  science  in  the  future  that  will  impose  new  duties  on 
the  University,  and  require  alterations  in  the  detailed  arrange- 
ment of  its  buildings,  but  it  is  believed  to  be  possible  to  secure 
a  comprehensive  plan  so  in  harmony  with  the  universal  prin- 
ciples of  architectural  art,  that  there  will  be  no  more  necessity 
of  remodeling  its  broad  outlines  a  thousand  years  hence,  than 
there  would  be  of  remodeling  the  Parthenon,  had  it  come 
down  to  us  complete  and  uninjured. 

In  the  great  works  of  antiquity,  the  designer  came  first, 
and  it  was  the  business  of  the  financier  to  find  the  money  to 
carry  out  his  plans.  In  the  new  building  scheme  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  California,  it  is  the  intention  to  restore  the  artist  and 
the  art  idea  to  their  old  pre-eminence.  The  architect  will  simply 
design,  others  must  provide  the  cost. 

About  five  million  dollars  have  already  been  pledged  for 
a  beginning,  and  such  a  general  desire  to  contribute  has  been 
manifested,  that  it  is  thought  that  all  the  funds  required  will 
be  forthcoming  as  fast  as  the  work  can  be  carried  on. 


Mrs.  Phebe  A.  Hearst,  widow  of  the  late  United  States 
Senator  George  Hearst,  and  a  lady  well  known  for  her  philan- 
thropy and  public  spirit,  and  her  interest  in  and  taste  for  all 
things  artistic,  has  provided  ample  funds  for  securing  the  archi- 
tectural plan.  For  this  purpose  she  has  appointed  a  Board  of 
Trustees  consisting  of  the  Governor  of  the  State,  James  H. 
Budd,  representing  the  State;  one  of  the  Regents  of  the  Uni- 
versity, J.  B.  Reinstein,  representing  the  Board  of  Regents,  and 
one  of  the  Professors  of  the  Faculty,  William  Carey  Jones, 
representing  the  University. 

While  the  method  of  obtaining  the  architectural  plan 
has  not  been  decided  on  in  detail,  it  is  thought  that  it  will  be 
done  by  an  international  concours,  open  to  all  the  architects 
of  the  world,  with  an  international  jury  of  five  members,  who 
will  have  full  charge  of  the  concours  and  of  the  award  of 
all  the  prizes.  This  concours,  while  partaking  in  some  degree  of 
the  nature  of  the  usual  competition,  will  possess  all  the  main 
features  of  an  actual  co-operation  of  the  best  architectural  and 
artistic  talent  available  for  the  purpose,  as  will  be  seen  from 
the  programme  which  has  been  prepared  with  that  idea  as  a 
controlling  one. 

There  will  be  two  competitions,  and  ample  prizes 
will  be  provided.  Maps,  casts  and  photographs  of  the  ground 
will  be  placed  at  various  accessible  points  in  Europe  and 
America,  for  the  convenience  of  architects  desiring  to  enter  the 
concours,  and  the  programme  thereof,  prepared  by  Professor 
Guadet,  of  the  School  of  Fine  Arts  of  France,  is  now  under 


consideration  by  the  Trustees,  and  it  is  hoped  to  distribute  the 
same  within  the  next  sixty  days* 

Copies  of  this  programme,  when  issued,  may  be  obtained 
by  architects  from  the  various  architectural  societies  in  America 
and  Europe,  or  upon  application  to  the  Board  of  Trustees,  at 
their  office,  2J7  Sansome  street,  San  Francisco,  California. 

The  University  of  California  is  destined  in  no  long  time 
to  be  one  of  the  great  seats  of  learning  of  the  world,  and  the 
architect  who  plans  for  it  a  home  worthy  of  its  future,  and  of 
what  a  famous  authority  has  called  "the  most  beautiful  site 
on  earth  for  the  purposes  of  a  University,"  will  make  his  name 
imperishable. 

San  Francisco,  California, 
August  3J,  J897. 

J.  B.  REINSTEIN, 
JAMES  H.  BUDD, 
WM.  CAREY  JONES, 

Trustees  for  the  Phebe  Hearst  Architectural 
Plan  of  the  University  of  California. 


